The Moon and Beekeeping

We started keeping bees in 2009 and are trying to use biodynamic Beekeeping techniques, to see if our experiences of Beekeeping are linked with the Lunar Cycle.

Apparently, as a beekeeper you can use the influences of the moon and planets to manage your hive. When you open up the hive you can influence the hive in different ways, like the Moon gardener would do with a hoe on the soil:

Flower/Air days (shown in yellow on the calendar) stimulate brood activity and colony development

Fruit/fire days (shown in red) stimulate the collection of nectar

Root/Earth days (shown in brown) are good if the bees should be encouraged to build more comb.

Leaf/water days (green) are not recommended for working with the hive.
Bees are supposed to be much more gentle on “air” and “fire” days (yellow and red on calendar). They are also more likely to swarm around full-moon, and they are much more agressive on hot humid days (eg Thunderstorms!) regardless which phase the moon is in.
I think local weather conditons have priority to the moon phase, but it is well worth considering when opening the hive when conditions are right.

If you can add any observation to that, please let me know.

We’ll update this page to report on any obvious correlation between our biodynamic beekeeping and the lunar gardening cycle.